APC Smart-UPS 1500VA Best UPS for the money?

I've read every thread I can on this for days. It seems like last year people were considering 1000VA units and even less. Some were having troubles with waking up and a large startup draw and blowing the UPS. Now from the reading it seems hit or mis. Some are still working with the lower ones and some are recommending 2200VA units or more.

Has something changed like the OS or new power supplies or something else?

My concern is my MP is 8 core. It will have 2 - 500 gb drives, 2 optical drives, 4GB ram, Nvidia 7300, lazer trackball, mac keyboard, 20 inch Apple cinema display and will draw too much if it wakes up under battery power.

Honestly im sick of this topic and want to move on. I will get my MP in a few days but want to have the UPS charged and ready to go.

I looked at some of APC's 2200VA units and the start to break the bank$$$.

Any info that can help claify my above concerns would be great. I really have read everything I can but it's the people that have 1500's and still have problems and have less of a MP than mine that throw a curve into my decision.

One more thing, are all the APC SMART UPS's going to help condition the power with AVR Boost and Trim?

Thanks for your patients!

Well, I think you are correct. The SUA1500 Smart UPS will do the trick.I just talked with John at APC and he came up with max of 650watts for my mac pro inrush current. I assume this is what would occure when waking from sleep. I dont' think though he took into account my 20 inch Apple cinema monitor. I figure I can just plug that into the no battery plugs in the back and mayby get a RS1500 for that in a month or two when the cash starts to flow again.

I did talk to Apple and the guy said his guess is that there will be a sofware update that will fix this high inrush current when waking from sleep. He thought the software stages the components to start up differently than from a fresh startup therefore everything goes on all at once when coming out of sleep mode.

Looks like its the Smart UPS SUA1500

At tiger direct though they sell the DLA1500 (Dell Model) which APC tech (MIKE) said is the smame unit except for the sensitivity button on the back which is not there on the DLA 1500. He also said The DLA can control sensitivity via software instead so there is no real differnece in terms of protection.

Anyone see any reason why I should not go with the DLA1500 that is $200.00 cheaper??? $299.00 + shipping?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=12372 71&CatId=234

Thanks Hatter for all the help. You've been a huge help.

not sure about the software. That's a good point! I will check.

I called APC and they said there is no Powershoot software for my Mac in that box. He also said I could not download it. That sounded wierd. He did say that the Mac native software for UPS's should be fine. Do you agree? What's the Main advantages of the APC software?

Thanks for that info. I've had 2 for 2 duds on refeb. gear. Since this is to protect my investment of the Mac Pro, I am going to spend a little more for a new one. I believe referb. units have there place though according to your situation. I should be able to report back by Friday.

SC thanks for your time! That info sounds encouraging. I was just reading a thread about Leopard and some APC units not working properly with the operating system's UPS setup.

1. Do you think I will have any trouble?

My plan for connecting the MP to the APC is through USB and using Mac's OS to comunicate for shutdown.

I can explain very clearly, with references below why in my opinion, I think a Brickwall Surge protector and a APC Smart UPS 1500VA can be used together. Warning, I am just a regular idiot and still count on my fingers. I am not qualified and do not claim to be an expert on any of this. Do not take my word for it and then try to sue me if something goes wrong. 🙂

I feel using the high-end Brickwall surge protector into the wall first and then the UPS into the Brickwall with nothing else connected and then the Mac Pro into the UPS that it will be a great combination as others have stated.
FWI Brickwall and Zerosurge are the same I called Brickwall and they said it is just a marketing plan for Audio files. I can confirm this by looking at the patents on Zerosurge unit on Google images and comparing to my Brick wall. All three are the same. Also the content of the websites is obviously very similar and the use some of the same images.

Read this page here:

http://brickwall.thomasnet.com/item/industrial-surge-protectors/hard-wired/pw2rh 15?&forward=1

Note this paragraph especially:
"This product was initially designed to enhance the protection of any file server by being placed in series between the wall plug and the UPS (UPS's have limited surge suppression/ filtering abilities). The lack of outlets minimizes the chances of accidentally overloading the unit."


Here is APC’s take on plugging a surge protector into the wall first and then a UPS and then a computer into the UPS:

http://nam-en.apc.com/cgi-bin/namen.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1372&pcreated=1010390400

Note this paragraph especially:

"Plugging your UPS into a surge protector:

In order for your UPS to get the best power available, you should plug your UPS directly into the wall receptacle. Plugging your UPS into a surge protector may cause the UPS to go to battery often when it normally should remain online. This is because other, more powerful equipment may draw necessary voltage away from the UPS which it requires to remain online."

It says that "OTHER" more powerful equipment "MAY" draw necessary voltage away from the UPS which it requires to remain online.

So my conclusion 1st is that ”if” there is no "OTHER" equipment on the surge protector (Usually used like a power strip. So I see where they get this scenario) then the whole statement is not applicable.

Now if part 2 of that comes true and the surge protector causes the UPS to behave funny, then I would agree with APS and not use the Brickwall surge protector in the system at all.

I really think this "RECOMENDATION" is for the scenario where someone plugs in a 10$ powerstrip/surgeprotector into the wall and fills up 7 slots with electronics. Then the UPS is plugged in and is now sharing 1 of 8 outlet slots. The UPS now may not get the correct power. This may trigger a fake brown out causing the UPS to work abnormally and possibly too frequently. Which I agree should be avoided.

It really sounds like the surge protection in the APC UPS and most surge protectors is inferior because they are MOV based.

More on that here:
http://brickwall.com/nofail.htm
and
http://brickwall.com/index.htm


So all this because I really want my Mac to have the best home possible!

Thanks everyone so far! I will report back on Saturday after the UPS is charged an connected.

Inrush currents explained. The term was taught to me from an APC Tech.

Basiclly the name for the currents peak during startup or wake form sleep. This is how I see it.

Here is Wiki on inrush currents:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inrush_current